Covenant can release records Lubbock wants with protective order

Covenant Health Systems and the city of Lubbock jointly filed a protective order that would allow the hospital to provide the city documents it wants without violating patient privacy.

The order, if approved by a federal judge, would render moot the lawsuit the city filed Monday.

"It basically gives Covenant protection and the city for the release of information," said Gwen Stafford, Covenant's vice president. "As long as we can protect the patients' privacy, if they want those numbers, we're fine with that."

The city filed a lawsuit Monday asking a federal judge to order Covenant to turn over financial records related to medical procedures performed at the hospital. The protective order produces the same result as the lawsuit.

Covenant's attorneys have directed the hospital not to release those documents, saying doing so would violate federal patient privacy laws.

Both parties need a federal judge to allow the hospital to turn over the records.

The city wants the documents to help with its lawsuit against American Administrative Group and its owner, Ted Parker. The city believes AAG and Parker overcharged it when it served as the city's insurance administrator. It is suing Parker for access to documents so it can audit them and verify charges.

The city is specifically seeking records related to Healthsmart, a company affiliated with The Parker Group and that served as the city's preferred provider organization between Jan. 1, 2004, and Dec. 31, 2006.

Healthsmart guaranteed the city it would receive as good or better discounts as the city received from BlueCross BlueShield, which served as the city's insurance administrator as of Oct. 23, 2003. The city wants to audit the Healthsmart bills to see if it overpaid.